1. Technical Field
The invention relates to bollards. In particular, though not exclusively, the invention relates to vehicular impact barriers and bollards suitable for use in vehicular impact barriers.
2. Description of Related Art
The provision of barriers comprising bollards, particularly vehicle barriers, often requires the permanent fixture, embedding or foundation of bollards within a ground surface in order to provide sufficient robustness and resilience of permanency to the barrier. It is very common that bollards arrayed collectively to provide such a barrier on a ground surface require some degree of excavation into that ground surface to enable each individual bollard of the barrier to be firmly, fixedly and permanently set into the ground to be upstanding from it. This is costly, time consuming and damaging to existing ground surfaces. For example an existing ground surface may comprise a paved area or may comprise a floor surface which is not in immediate contact with the ground, such as an elevated floor surface (e.g. a concrete floor) within an upper level of a building such as a car park or airport terminal building or the like. Excavating such a floor surface in order to accommodate embedded bollards is extremely undesirable. Structural integrity maybe compromised and the embedding of suitably robust bollards may not be feasible or permissible.
These problems are compounded when the situation requires only temporary placement of a barrier. In those circumstances, subsequent re-excavation of the embedded bollard members would be required in order to remove the barrier. Subsequent repair of the ground surface or floor surface would be required where excavation had taken place.
Furthermore, when the embedding of barriers within an excavation is required, the existence of obstacles to the intended positioning and linear trajectory of parts of the barrier may prevent the necessary excavation being provided. Additionally, sharp turns in the trajectory of the barrier may be required to avoid obstacles (e.g. street furniture) or to follow a desired arcuate route (e.g. a turn in a pavement).
The present invention aims to provide means and methods which may be used desirably to assist in addressing some or all of the problems identified above, while still providing a robust and effective barrier able to absorb vehicular impact forces efficiently.